By Eric Morgen Moyo

The month of September 2023 has been recorded as the hottest month ever, beating the previously held record of that month in 2020 by more than 0.5°C, an unprecedented spike according to scientists. According to the Copernicus Climate Change Service report, the average global temperature for September was almost 1.8 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial average.

The year of 2023 is also on track to be the hottest year ever, with global average temperatures having already reached 1.4°C above preindustrial levels so far. This is an undesirable territory that inches us closer to throwing in the bin the Paris Agreement Goal of limiting the increase not beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The first global temperature data is in for the full month of September. This month was, in my professional opinion as a climate scientist – absolutely gobsmackingly bananas. JRA-55 beat the prior monthly record by over 0.5C, and was around 1.8C warmer than preindutrial levels.

Zeke Hausfather (on X) – Scientist at Berkeley Earth

This is already having dire consequences across the globe, with wildfires, heatwaves, floods and heavier rains than usual continuing to be on the rise.